War of 1812 Battles |
Colonial Wars |
American Wars |
Battle of Burnt Corn
July 27, 1813, Burnt Corn, Alabama (Mississippi Territory)
Books on The Battle of Burnt Corn
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The Battle of Burnt Corn was an encounter between United States armed forces and Creek Indians that took place July 27, in present day Southern Alabama. It was part of the Creek War, often considered to be part of the larger War of 1812.
In July 1813, Peter McQueen and a large party of Warriors proceeded to Pensacola, with a letter from a British Officer at Fort Malden and four hundred dollars, to buy munitions. The Spanish Governor gave them, in McQueen's words, "a small bag of powder for each ten towns, and five bullets to each man" The Governor represented this as a friendly present for hunting purposes.
But conversely Samuel Moniac, a Creek warrior, testified August 2, 1813 that “High Head told me that, when they went back with their supply, another body of men would go down for another supply of ammunition; and that ten men were to go out of town, and they calculated on five horse loads for every town.”
United States soliders at Fort Mims, having heard of McQueen's mission, responded by sending a disorganized force, led by Maj. Daniel Beasley and Capt. Dixon Bailey, to intercept McQueen's party. The Americans surprised the Red Sticks as they bedded down for the evening at Burnt Corn, which is about eighty miles north of Pensacola. The Americans scattered the Red Sticks who fled to the near by swamps. Flush with victory the Americans began looting the Red Sticks' possessions. From the swamp the Creeks noticed that the Americans were getting carried away with their looting and dropping their guard; so the Creeks launched a surprise attack of their own which scattered the Americans.
The Red Sticks considered this ambush to be a declaration of war by the American settlers. Since the American militia attacked from Fort Mims the Red Sticks directed their next offensive at the fort. Many mixed blood Creek families from the lower towns fled to Fort Mims at the outbreak of the Creek War, and these refuges were most likely the target of the Red Stick aggression.
